


Homeward-Bound

by Blue_Daffodils



Series: Homeward Bound [2]
Category: Jack Blank Adventures - Matt Myklusch
Genre: F/M, Found Family, Magic, Unofficial Sequel, Witches, mentions of human trafficking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:01:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28736154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Daffodils/pseuds/Blue_Daffodils
Summary: Victoria has spent her whole life running. Running from her past, from relationships, and any form of attachment. But, when a little girl shows up in her motel room, talking madness about magic, covens, and quest, all of that changes. Her talk proves less insane when a shape-shifting monster tries to kill them. Suddenly Victoria finds herself whisked away to the Imagine Nation where she finds herself being indoctrinated into a coven of witches and tasked with protecting them. Now, in order to stay alive, she must stop running and force herself to learn how to stay. All the while, monsters and mistakes from her past start to catch up with her.
Relationships: Allegra/Jack Blank, Past Skerren/Trea (Jack Blank), Skerren/Victoria
Series: Homeward Bound [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106681





	1. Astrid's Quest

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place 5-6 years after the 'End of Infinity'.

Victoria is running. Her heart pounds in her chest and sweat drips down her skin as she sprints up the desert mountain, pushing herself to her limit. The sun hasn’t risen yet, so the air was pleasantly cool. She gulps it down in lungfuls as she ran. Her muscles burned, but the finish is so close. She put out one last spurt of speed, finally at the top of the mountain. It isn’t the peak, but it’s pretty close. The view is nice. She holds her hands over her head, taking deep breaths to cool down. The sun is just starting to break across the horizon, staining the sky with pretty hues of pink and indigo. She walks over to the spot she’d set up to cool down at. It’s a tiny piece of stone free of vegetation and crawling insects. She checks her watch. Ten miles in an hour and a half. It was a good time all things considered.

Over the last year, Victoria had noticed something weird happening to her. She’s stronger than she should be. A couple of months ago, a creep had tried to corner her in an alley, and she’d been able to throw him off of her with enough force to the crack cement. The man had to be around 200 pounds, and she’d lifted him easily. But, when she’d gone to the gym a couple of days later, she’d been unable to lift more than 100 pounds. The same thing with running. A couple of weeks ago, she’d been late for the bus, and had sprinted towards it for a mile. it had to have been going around 30 to 40 miles per hour. Ten miles in an hour and a half wasn’t Olympic level, but still, it’s good. Better than anything she should be able to do naturally. At first, Victoria had done her best to ignore the strange abilities she found herself with, but a couple of nights ago she’d gotten the bow.

She had been having a nightmare, which wasn’t unusual. All she remembered was that she was running from something. In the dream, she never saw what she was running from, but she knew that if it caught her, it would kill her. She’d been in a maze, racing down random paths, when she’d entered a room. Inside it, there was a pile of every handheld weapon imaginable. The thing, shadow, whatever it is, was right around the corner. She’d reached into and pulled out a compound bow. By the time she pulled the bow out, the shadowy monster had turned the corner. Then she woke up. however, the bow had traveled from the dream and had been clutched in her hand when she’d woke. At first, she thought it was some type of demonic bow, so she’d thrown it away. only to have it reappear after getting in a fight with an asshole at a bar. No matter how hard she tried to leave it, it would appear next to her again the second she felt scared or angry. Then she tried to shoot it.

She grabs her bow, walking over to the prearranged targets she had set up. Strangely enough, the bow hadn’t come with a quiver or any arrows, but she found when she pulled back on the string like an arrow was there, the arrow would appear. It’s a neat trick. She pulls on the string, an arrow appearing as she pulls in back fully, aims and fires. The arrow flies clean into its target. She knocks the second one, splitting the first arrow down the middle. Then a third. Then a fourth. Each splitting the one before it. That’s the strangest thing about the bow. Before discovering it, she had never shot an arrow in her life. Now, she couldn’t seem to miss. All things considered, it had been a very strange year.

Victoria would like to think that she has the creativity to figure out what to do with her odd newfound abilities, but she couldn’t think of anything. Unreliable superstrength, superspeed, and a super-accurate bow aren’t going to help feed her or get enough money to live comfortably for once. Unless she joined the circus, and that wasn’t an option, considering the entire reason for her current nomadic lifestyle was that she was trying to stay off the grid. She sighs, leaving her bow on the mountain as she makes her way back to her room at a dingy motel in the middle of nowhere. It seems to pop up whenever she needed it, and she’d rather not run across the warming dessert with a bow slung on her back.

She gets back to the hotel in the same amount of time it took her to get to her spot in the mountain. Except, this time she’s running through the desert while the sun is in the sky. By the time she gets back to her room, she’s drenched in sweat. She sighs, knowing she’ll have to carve out time in an already busy schedule to stop by a laundry mat before she leaves. Her bus would leave later in the day and take her from Texas to Nevada. She peels off her sweaty clothes and heads into the shower. For once, she isn’t upset that the shower stayed cold for five minutes before heating up. the lack of air conditioning in the room combined with the boiling temperatures outside made her welcome it. she takes a relatively quick shower, trying to save enough time to hit the laundry mat before the afternoon bus.

She wipes the fog from the mirror, looking at her reflection. Dark brown almond-shaped eyes stared back at her. Already, the unruly waves that defined her black hair are starting to curl and form. She runs her fingers through it trying to keep it from tangling until she brushed it. Victoria had always been told she was beautiful. She remembers the first time she heard it. of course, it was from her parents. Her mother brushing back her hair, complimenting her eyes. Later, it had been some of the girls at her school, saying it with narrowed eyes as valentine’s piled up on her desk. Then she’d heard it from men on the streets as she walked home in her private school uniform, or while she was shopping with her father. His gaze stern and angry at the unwanted attention. Of course, like any good girl, she’d always smile and accepted their comments as compliments. The world was simpler back then. Back when she’d been naïve enough to think that beauty actually meant something. Her father’s stern gaze or sister’s guiding hand had been like a lighthouse to the darkness of the world. She knew better now.

She grabs her toothbrush and starts to brush her teeth when she has a realization that makes her blood go cold: the TV is on. She didn’t turn it on before she left. While the motel had a lot of problems, horrible water pressure, lack of maid service, weak air conditioning, to name a few, never in her three-week-long stay had the appliances started turning on by themselves. Turning off, yes, but never on. That meant one thing: somebody was in her room.

Immediately, her compound bow appears on the counter. She rinses out her mouth, throwing on a pair of clean clothes. She keeps the water to the sink running in an attempt to make whoever was in her room thinking she was still going about her business completely unaware. With her bow in hand, she throws the door open. She rolls across the floor, looking through her scope to see a little girl on her bed. The remote is next to her indicating she’s the one who turned on the TV. Her pale blonde hair is tied back in intricate braids, and she’s wearing a blue dress that looks like it’s fresh out of the medieval period.

Her bright green eyes light up when she spots Victoria, bow drawn and all. “Hi,” She chirps, her voice bright and cheery. completely unfazed by the deadly arrow trained on her. “I’m Astrid.”

Victoria lowers the bow but keeps the arrow loaded. “Why are you in my room?”

“We have a lot of work to do. You and I have to journey to the Imagine Nation, unite the Lost Witches of the White Order to vanquish the Wizards of the Black Syndicate once and for all. It’s our quest!” she emphasizes the last part by throwing her fist in the car.

She blinks at her. “Okay,” she says disarming her bow after realizing this girl was more a nuisance than a threat. “Why don’t you tell me where your parents are, and they can help you with your DnD quest.”

Astrid looks back at the TV. “My parents are dead,” she responds.

For a moment, Victoria’s heart aches with sympathy. Then, she remembers her parents. “Yeah well, you’re probably better off without them. And if you’re not, you need to learn how to be better off without.”

Astrid gives her a dry look. “I know for a fact that there is not a single psychology book that recommends the emotional stunted advice you just gave me.”

Okay, this kid was getting on her nerves. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had a Ph.D. in Psychology. I thought you were just a weird little girl who likes Dungeons and Dragons way too much.” She says nastily. “For your information, that advice has gotten me by fine.”

Astrid quirks an eyebrow glancing around the dirty motel room, overflowing with clutter and take-out. “Has it? Anyway,” she adds, cutting off whatever scathing reply Victoria was about to say. “I don’t need a Ph.D. in psychology to know it. That’s my magical specialty. Knowledge. And yours is battle, which is why you have the bow.”

She stares down at her compound bow, contemplating the girl’s words. Battle? That would explain the bow, and the strange peak levels of fitness she was experiencing. It made a lot of sense- _What the hell is she thinking?!_

She takes a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You’re right, and the first step on this little quest of ours can be to the Narnia. You can head outside and pack your bags, and I’ll close my door then join you shortly.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no such thing as Narnia.”

Victoria wasn’t incredibly religious, but for the first time in a while, she found herself praying. She walks over to Astrid. Turns off the TV, grabs her by the arm, and starts to walk her towards the door. “If you want to play dress-up and make-believe do it with children your age or your imaginary friends, not me.” She shoves her out of her room into the heat of the Texan sun.

“We don’t have time for games! The Order is nigh!” Shouts Astrid. She slams the door on her face.

Astrid starts pounding on the door from outside. “Let me back in!”

Victoria ignores her and starts packing up her things to leave. What a strange girl. Who raises a child to think it’s okay to break into people’s rooms? Also, the dungeons and dragon’s get-up is bit much. She was too old for her parents to still be allowing her to dress up like that. I mean, Victoria got it. when she was a kid, she’d been obsessed with fantasy novels too, but then her parents had made her throw them out because they were catholic and didn’t like how the books dealt with magic. Astrid keeps pounding on her door, not giving up. She goes over to the radio and turns it on. The music is horrible, more static than anything else, but it’s enough to block out Astrid’s tiny hands pounding on the door. every single thud of her fist on the door feels like a stab at her consciousness.

“Come on! I know that you’re too good of a person to feel comfortable leaving me unprotected and unsupervised!”

_No_ , she tells herself. _no, I’m not going to do it. I’m not_. The pounding continues. She punches the motel pillows screaming into them for a minute, all while the pounding continues. Victoria could be cold-hearted when she wanted to, but there was something about leaving someone so young outside that made her uncomfortable. she rushes over to the door, ripping it open. Astrid almost falls inside from hitting the door so hard.

“Do you have an adult who’s supposed to be watching over you?” she asks.

Astrid nods her head enthusiastically. “Yeah, but he wouldn’t listen when I told him about the quest.”

She sighs. “How about this? If you give me information to help you find whatever adult is looking for you, I’ll join your little quest or whatever. Deal?”

“Deal!”

Call it magic, but Victoria was 100% positive that she was going to regret this.

Astrid reaches into her pocket pulling out a scrap of paper with a number written on it in messy handwriting. “He told me to type this number into one of the magic talking boxes if I were to get lost.”

She hands her the paper, racing inside and throwing herself on the bed. The TV starts again. Victoria walks over, turning off the TV.

“Hey!” she cries out.

“If I’m helping you out, you’re helping me out. I need you to put all the personal belonging in my luggage.” She orders.

Astrid looks over at the tiny black suitcase at it. “You live out of that?”

“Do you want to judge my living decisions, or do you want to complete your quest?” Astrid harrumphs and starts to pack the clothes. She goes over to the hotel phone, plugging the number. It picks up on the second ring.

“Hello?” asked a voice with an English accent, similar to Astrid’s.

“Hello, my name is Victoria. There’s a child named Astrid in my room, claiming you’re responsible for her.”

“Astrid?!” he says, sounding panicked. “Astrid!” he calls as if he expects her to run around the corner like Victoria was prank calling him. _Did he not know she was missing?_

“Yes, that’s her name. she has blonde hair and green eyes. Sound familiar.”

“You have Astrid?! If you even try to hurt her, there will be no place you can hide from me.” He threatens. “I will hunt you down and see you suffer the same torments you put her through ten-fold. Only then, will I-”

“Cálmese!” she shouts in Spanish. Her frustration causing her to forget to translate. She takes a deep breath. “If anyone is trying to hurt someone, it’s her. She was the one who broke into my motel room, talking gibberish about a quest!"

There’s what sounds like a scuffle on the other end of the line. The next time someone speaks, it’s a different man with an American accent. “I’m sorry about my friend. He’s just very worried about Astrid’s well-being. You said you’re at a hotel?”

“Motel,” she corrects. “And not for long. I have to catch a bus out of here soon. What’s the fastest that you can get here? I’m at the Rosebud hotel in Freda room 1308.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the phone. “We’re a while away. How about you take Astrid with you where you’re going and give us your final destination.”

How far away were they that they couldn’t pick up a little girl in ten minutes. Her final destination was nearby, but still, a while away. The final place she had to go was a pawn shop in Amity, and it was around 45 minutes to an hour. “I should end up in Amity sometime tonight.”

“The latest bus to amity is around 8:00. Can you meet us at the Barnes&Nobles near the bus station?”

“Sure,”

“We promise to reimburse you for the ticket and everything,” he says relieved. “Thank you, for taking care of her.”

“Just be there on time.” she hangs up.

The quicker she got rid of Astrid the quicker she could get back to her regular life. A part of her wondered how safe Astrid would be with a bunch of strange men who hadn’t seemed to notice that Astrid had gone missing and wandered far enough for them to not be able to pick her up in ten minutes. At the same time, she knew that Astrid’s chances were infinitely better off with them than she could ever be with her. She’d never admit it out loud, but Astrid’s rude comments about the state of her life were pretty accurate. Her life was a house of cards that was barely managing to stay upright. Adding a child to it would bring it toppling down.

“Your luggage is packed!” She turns around to find her luggage packed, and the room much cleaner.

“What’s in this?” asks Astrid. In her hands, she holds the black traveling case. Victoria races across to snatch the case out of her hands “This case is very important. Don’t touch it, especially without my permission.”

Her eyes light up with curiosity. “So, I could potentially touch it with your permission?”

“No,” she snaps, “as far as you concerned, this case does not exist.”

“What if somebody tries to steal the case, and you’re not around, but I am. Should I touch the case then?”

She sighs exasperated. “Do you always ask this many questions?”

She wrinkles her nose. “No, my magic gift is knowledge. It only works on things that have been written down. It doesn’t work on people’s business unless they have a diary, which you don’t. Anyway, I need to know as much as possible if I’m to help us in our quest. So, again, in the situation in which-”

“No,” she interrupts. she decides to answer with the least amount of leeway and loopholes. “Under no circumstance, are you to touch this case or any of the items in this case. Understand?” She nods her head, hopping up off the ground. “Come, on. We’ve got to catch the bus to Freda.”

“Why?” asks Astrid She gives out a long-suffering sigh.

“To go the laundry mat.”

“Why?” asks Astrid.

She sighs. This was going to be a long, long day. Unless, if you can’t beat em, join em.

“Astrid,” she calls out, “Why don’t you tell me more about the Black Syndicate?”

Her eyes light up like a child on Christmas. She quickly rushes over and begins to tell her everything she knows about the Black Syndicate, which apparently, is a lot. Today was definitely going to be a long, long, _long_ day.


	2. Pawn shops and shapeshifters

They get through most of her errands on time. Despite Astrid’s constant babble about castle, witches, covens, and quest, she’s able to push it to the background and complete her tasks. There was only one incident when Astrid decided that she needed to inform a young woman reading a fantasy novel that a medieval Viking warrior would never wear a metal breastplate. Then went on an entire rant about historical inaccuracies in, not only the book she was reading but all the books in the series. She’d had to aggressively persuade Astrid to stop talking and the woman not to strangle her for accidentally spoiling the book. However, somehow, she managed to keep her sanity throughout the entire day. The sun is starting to set as they approach their last destination, the pawn store.

For the last year and a half, Victoria struggled to find a part-time job. There wasn’t a high demand for workers without a high school diploma who could only hold a job for a week. Shocker. To make enough money to clothe, feed, and house herself, she had to resort to shoplifting. She wasn’t proud of it. However, by the third time she had to sleep near the highway because she didn’t have enough money to afford a motel, she’d learned to live with it. When it came to be shoplifting, Victoria tried to shoplift in the most humane way possible. She took big-ticket items from large jewelry chains. That way, she maximized profit for herself with the smallest damage to others.

“Can we get something to eat?” ask Astrid, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“No, because we don’t have any money, so we’re going to need to trade this,” she holds up the black case, “for money.”

Victoria grabs Astrid’s hand as they enter the pawnshop, not wanting her to wander around the old store for two reasons. The first is that she didn’t want to be held accountable if she went missing. It was a small town, but Astrid had a habit of walking towards whatever interested her, which is how she’d ended up with her in the first place. She definitely didn’t want to explain to her guardians that she’d lost her. The second is that she couldn’t afford anything that Astrid might break. She dug through her black traveling case, pulling out a beautiful emerald and gold set as she approached the clerk. He was a middle-aged man with a very thick mustache and cold eyes. He looks at the necklace then back up at her with an expression that says he knows she stole it.

“Doesn’t go with my complexion.” She says as a response.

He scoffs at that, picking up the necklace. “I can give you 250 for it.”

“That’s a seven-hundred-dollar necklace.”

“Actually,” pipes up Astrid. “Its retail value is four hundred,” she replies smiling.

“200,” he lowers the price.

Victoria gives her a cold stare. “Remember that conversation we had in the motel about abandonment and choices?”

“I was only trying to help. 300 is worth more than 250.”

  
She feels a migraine coming on. She grabs her suitcase, rolling it to the front of the shop, where she can still see it. “How about this? if you keep your hand on the suitcase for the entirety of our time here, I will buy you ice-cream. Deal?”

Astrid smiles. “Deal?”

If she didn’t know better, she’d think this kid was baiting her to get her to agree to things. Then she thought back on the earnest expression on her face when she had tried to help and thought better of it. She walks back over to the clerk.

“How about this?” she pulls out an expensive-looking watch that had been priced at 650 when she’d… liberated it.

He raises an eyebrow at her again. “Ain’t your color?” he asks sarcastically.

She narrows her eyes. “Too chunky to go with an outfit,” she says, looking over his body, which was just as blocky.

“270.”

Note to self, she thinks, don’t insult the person pawning her stuff. The rest of the interaction follows pretty much the same. He gives her half price for almost all the stuff she has, coming out to around 1200. It’s not a bad haul, but it’s not enough to pay for what lodging and transportation around Nevada for the next few weeks. She tries to hassle him for a couple more dollars on the watch.

“How much is information worth?” asks Astrid.

Victoria glances down to realize that Astrid had moved the suitcase over to her. She wants to get upset, but honestly, this is more her fault than Astrids. Should’ve put a no-talking rule in their deal and mentioned that she shouldn’t move the luggage.

  
“Kid, there’s nothing you know that’s worth my money. But,” he pauses his eyes traveling over Victoria’s chest. “If you want unconventional payment, I can think of a deal.”

She smiles at him. Quicker than a cobra, she slams his head into the glass display on the counter, causing it to crack.

“Actually,” continues Astrid unfazed by the violence. “I was referencing the fact that isn’t the first time you’ve propositioned a woman this kind of deal, and too many have said yes. But you already knew that.” The man struggles and Victoria add more pressure, putting in more cracks in the glass.

“I’d recommend you listen to the kid,” she leans in to whisper in his ear, “or I’m going to push your head through the display.” He stops struggling.

“I was referring to the fact that your business partner, Rufus, has been recording these sessions with a hidden camera in the back, and he’s been utilizing this video for his own,” she pauses, “needs.”

“Now, we could go in the back, take those videos, and upload them to your social media. The password to all of it is Storagewarrior32. Or,” she pauses smiling, “You can gives us the market value for all the beautiful jewelry my friend here traded you.”

  
“Fine!”

  
“Thank you!” sings Astrid. She skips over to the register, pulling out the amount they need. Afterward, Victoria knocks him unconscious because she didn’t trust this man not to call the cops on them on their way out.

  
On their way outside, victoria tells her, “I was going to skip on our deal and not get you the ice-cream for interrupting the deal,”

  
“Hey!” shouts Astrid

  
“But,” she ignores her outburst, “I’d say you’ve definitely earned it.”

  
Astrid does a little curtsey. “Thank you, my lady.”

  
She returns the little courtesy back, earning her a speech about the proper way to courtesy. Even though she was annoying, the kid’s weird medieval obsession was kind of adorable. Victoria hadn’t let herself think about wanting a family, especially a child, since she was a little kid. But she’d always thought she’d want a weird kid. Not the whole medieval obsession, but a kid who was passionate about strange and obscure things. She’d like to imagine that she’d be a good mom and encourage them to embrace their passions. Not so much that they’re obsessed enough to break into stranger’s rooms, but enough that they wouldn’t be afraid to be themselves. It's a nice thought. She shakes it off and instead focuses on returning Astrid to her guardians so she could go back to her normal life.

“Where do you want to eat?” she asks her.

  
The lights lining the street flicker out then die. She takes out her suitcase, planning on grabbing her flashlight. As she reaches inside, every single cell in her body fires off an alarm. She looks up and sees a large wolf lunge at Astrid. Without thinking, she reaches out, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her towards her. Her bow appears in her hand, she knocks an arrow and fires. The wolf dodges, snapping. She pushes Astrid behind her.  


“Run and hide!” she tells her, knocking another arrow.

The animal stares at Astrid like it can understand what she said. Its large head looks between the two of them as if it’s deciding which to kill. She doesn’t give it time to think as she fires another arrow. it dodges. The animal seems to make up its mind as it starts to stalk towards her. it’s then that she realizes it’s not a wolf. It looks like some horrific mixture between a wolf and a bear. It has the snout and paws of a wolf but the great lumbering body of a bear. That’s not all. It’s tail trails after it, with a cat-like demeanor, only highlighted by its slit eyes and wicked claws. One swipe from this thing and she’d be dead. She backs up, knocking another arrow. The creature stalks her slowly. Almost like it’s contemplating. She’s resisting every instinct in her to fire at it. she needs to wait. The creature seems to be tracking her thoughts because suddenly it stands on two legs. It forms slowly morphing to that of a man.  
She fires. The arrow strikes, not at his heart, where she’d aimed, but at his shoulder, his form slightly taller than she’d hoped.

“Ya bitch!” he had a very strong Irish accent. Victoria had learned to speak and understand English fluidly, but his accent was making whatever he was trying to say indecipherable. “I was only told to kill the little girl, but now, I’m going to enjoy ripping your-” he screams as he unloads another arrow into him. this time hitting him in the thigh.

She loads another arrow. Whoever the strange shapeshifter is, has learned their lesson, and they shift into a creature before she can unload another arrow into his body. The shapeshifter has taken a different form, another chimera of animals. It looks like a reptilian version of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. This time she takes the offense, rushing at the creature, and swinging her bow. Her heart is pounding, but she can’t afford to double guess herself. As predicted, it grabs her bow, trying to rip it out of her hands. She pulls on the string, out of nowhere, an arrow appears. She fires. Like a bullseye, the arrow sinks into the soft flesh of the thing's throat. She rolls away, holding out her hand. Her bow reappears just like magic. Mabey there was some truth to Astrid’s battle mage talk. Her celebration is cut short when the thing starts to laugh.

  
“That was clever. I’ll give ya that. But to kill a Marlizon of the Tamperon, ya need a wee more firepower than one tiny arrow to the throat.”

She pulls back on her bow, knocking an arrow. “Mabey I was trying to kill that horrible accent.”

He laughs at that. “Says the pot to the kettle. Ya-”

Out of spite, she fires another arrow into his throat mid-sentence. Victoria is originally from El Salvador. Her accent is still pretty strong, but it was understandable. Even when if it isn’t, she’s been told by numerous people that it was sexy. She couldn’t say the same for him.

He rips the arrows out then gets on all fours, ready to attack. The thing charges. She fires. The shot goes wide as it uses its wings to leap over the bow, landing behind her. Before she can react, it slashes at her back. She falls to the ground, crying out in pain. Her skin starts to burn where his talons cut. He wraps his tail around her leg, dragging her backward. as he brings her near to rip her apart with its fangs, she slams her bow into its mouth. Her bow takes the place of where her head, forcing the animal's mouth wide open and preventing it from killing her. Suddenly, a very bright yellow light shines out of nowhere quickly followed by a loud thud as a car drives into the monster. Astrid sits looking very panicked in the driver’s seat. Victoria doesn’t waste any time. She leaps behind the wheel, putting the car into reverse as he starts to get back up.

“Where’d you get this car?!” she asks Astrid as she slams her foot into the gas.

“I hotwired it!”

A part of her wants to ask how she knew to hotwire a car but decides she has bigger issues to deal with. She swerves driving forward. The creature chases after them with a vengeance. At first on foot, but after it becomes apparent that isn’t fast enough, he flaps its wings and starts to chase after them in the air. He was faster in the air than he’d been on foot. Victoria realizes that unless she does something, the beast is going to catch up to them. Then kill them. She gets an idea. It’s risky, but if they didn’t even try, they were as good as dead.

“Take the wheel!” she shouts at Astrid.

“What?!”

“Take the wheel or we’ll both die very quickly, very painfully!”

She lets go of the wheel, still leaving her foot on the gas. Astrid leans over, grabbing the wheel. The car zigzags wildly as her tiny hands take the wheel, but it’s manageable, manageable enough for what she has planned. Carefully, she knocks an arrow, keeping track of the thing with the scope in her bow. She loads it leaning out the car. The glint of the giant talons of the creature made it easier to spot in the nighttime. She loaded the arrow, pulling it back, and firing. He dodges it easily. Whatever poison was in its claws is really starting to take effect. It’s becoming harder to pull on her bow, harder to breathe, as pain radiates through her. She pulls on the string with shaky fingers, biting her lip to keep from crying out. At this rate, the pain would be so intense that she wouldn’t even be able to load an arrow. Then she'd be shit out of luck.

Again, she fires and misses. She screams in frustration and fear. The only way she was going to hit that thing is if she fired more than one arrow at once. As if reading her thoughts, the bow produces three arrows the next time she pulls on the string. The arrows fly through the night sky, the resounding screech is a confirmation that at least one hit. She pulls back again. This time summoning five arrows. Before she can fire, something heavy lands on the car and takes a swipe at her, shredding her arm with two deep cuts. She cries out in pain dropping the bow. The same burning sensation that had started eating away on her back begins.

The thing rips off the hood of their car. Astrid pulls her back inside the vehicle. Still driving manically along the road in a wild zig-zag formation. She puts her good hand over Astrid, doing her best to shield her body from the inevitable feel of talons ripping them apart. There are worse ways to die, she thinks, as she looks down on a terrified Astrid. There are also better ways to die. She slams her foot on the break. The creature goes far, still zipping down the road. Huh? It could fly and maneuver in the air pretty quickly at the expense of being able to stop quickly. She takes the opportunity, ignoring the screaming pain in her arm to sling two bows, close enough together, and fires while the animal is clumsily turning around. The arrows fly true, sinking into the spots where its wings meet its back.

She says a little prayer to God as the creature starts to drop. But the fight wasn’t over. She slams her feet on the gas.

“Astrid, get in my lap and give me something heavy.”

Astrid looks at her with wary eyes searching through the car. “The only thing back here is the black traveling case.”

“Give it to me!”

She looks back at the case then back at her. “You said not to-”

“I’m telling you to touch it, now!”

“It has all our money,”

“We can either have money or our lives. I choose our lives. Hand me the case!” she screams.

Astrid does as she’s told, handing her the black travel case. Victoria feels a different type of burning as the car starts to rapidly approach the wounded beast. The man or beast or whatever it is, is starting to shift again. Victoria smiles. Something about hitting him mid-shift was a habit that she was really starting to enjoy. She drops the case on the gas and the car continues to fly forward. Then, she wraps her arms around Astrid, protecting her with her body, bow in her right hand, and leaps from the car. Surprising her, her bow shifts into a shield as she hits the ground, providing her with some cushion. Some. The blow still hurts pretty bad. The wind is knocked from her and the shield skirts hard enough for sparks to fly. While they’re flying down the road, so is the car. Just like her arrows had earlier, the car hits her target. The impact is enough for the engine to rupture, then explode, engulfing the man in flames mid-shift. A ground-shaking roar sounds off through the night. Then silence. Victoria takes deep settling breaths, taking notice of how her ribs ached when she did. That wasn’t good. She thinks. She feels, more than sees, Astrid start to move. Her eyes feeling too heavy to open.

“Victoria!”

She feels tiny hands press down on her shoulder, shaking her. A panicked high-pitched voice screams

“Victoria!” is the last thing she hears before a bright white light engulfs her.


End file.
